A successful civil engineering apprenticeship

Featuring Annabel Watson - a Civil Engineering graduate at The University of Bolton in 2023

Annabel Watson has recently completed a Civil Engineering BEng (Level 6 apprenticeship)
at Bolton. If that’s something you’re considering, read on to see how she found it and even
get some insights from her employer…

Why take a civil engineering apprenticeship at Bolton?

In her own words, “I chose this course as I had been working in the Civil team at Jacobs for
4 years prior and I wanted to become a qualified civil engineer on a course that was
accredited by the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE). By choosing the apprenticeship route,
I was able to gain my degree but also work towards my Incorporated Engineer (IEng)
status with the ICE at the same time.” And that’s a huge motivator for many apprentices, to
earn valuable qualifications and degrees much quicker than they could alone.

This really put Annabel on the fast track. She even gained her IEng status within 8 months of
graduating! In addition, her increased confidence helped her shine at work, day to day. We
caught up with Amber Jackson, Senior CS&A Engineer at Jacobs who shared that Annabel
had been getting wide exposure to a range of civil engineering activities and was a key
member of the team. Her successful delivery on multiple projects as a SQEP resource, saw
her take on more and more responsibility. Annabel explains, “On starting the course I was
comfortable [completing] calculations but required guidance from senior and principal
engineers in my team. I am now fully confident in completing a calculation report for a project
with minimal guidance from my colleagues; [understanding what is] required for a calculation
report depending on the design. This has allowed me to accept a graduate CS&A Engineer
role on a new project.” Congrats, Annabel!

What was the learning like?

She explains, “I thoroughly enjoyed the site surveying module as we went outside and used
the total stations and dumpy levels. Using the equipment outside made it much easier to
understand [its] purpose as we could physically use it and see what it did. There was a
good mix of assignments, practical work and exams, with the assignments and [practicals]
also being a mix of individual work and teamwork in groups. [Lastly], the Moodle page is a
tool that supported me greatly throughout my apprenticeships. If you ever need to find
anything relating to modules you will find it on Moodle.” Coursework, work experience and
regular meetings between herself, her employer and training offers collated into a successful
civil engineering apprenticeship and a step up in her career.

Did this civil engineering apprenticeship help you at work?

Annabel says, “My main goal when starting at Jacobs was to become a qualified Civil
Engineer with IEng status and the apprenticeship has allowed me to achieve this. [I] initially
wanted to pass my degree and gain a 2:1, however, due to the course, I was able to surpass
this goal and achieve first class honours.” Isn’t that incredible? Annabel was also highly
awarded across her civil engineering apprenticeship, achieving:

• Governors’ Prize Sessional Highest Academic Achievement
• Governors’ Prize Final Assessment Highest Academic Achievement
• Institution of Civil Engineers Student Prize for University of Bolton
• Institution of Structural Engineers (IStructE) Michael Horne Prize 2023

And, talking to Amber Jackson at Jacobs again, we learned that Annabel has excelled
across many requirements including managing and organising tasks, scoping work and
defining requirements and technical deliverables such as calculations, risk assessments and
options reports. Her “strengths in adapting to new work and taking on challenges outside of
[her] comfort zone and confidence in [her] own ability has grown over the years and
continues to grow.” Amber said the whole civil engineering apprenticeship experience was
good with “regular meetings and discussions, formal yearly appraisals and 3-month reviews
with [her] training officer.” Several times, she highlighted the training officer as a particularly
useful resource for facilitating communication and coordination between their organisation
and Annabel’s academic programme.

If you’re considering a civil engineering apprenticeship at Bolton and want more information
for yourself, or your employer, reach out to us on 01204 952 747 or via email at
enquiries@bolton.ac.uk today. We’d love to show you what #UniAsItShouldBe really means.